1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical mask apparatus using optical fibers, and more particularly to a medical mask apparatus using optical fibers which allows easy projection of a laser beam to a treated portion of a face.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, the optical fiber is an optical fiber which totally reflects light passing through a central portion of glass by making a refractive index of the central portion of the glass high and a refractive index of an outer portion low. The optical fiber loses a very small amount of energy and thus a loss rate of transmitted and received data is low and is rarely influenced by an external environment.
The optical fiber has been applied to various fields recently, and in particular, laser apparatuses using optical fibers are utilized for various purposes in various fields such as industries, medicine, communications, the military, measurements, and displays. In particular, the application ranges of laser technologies are gradually increasing in the medical fields such as ophthalmology, dentistry, surgery, and skin treatments.
Since laser projection using optical fibers is made as laser oscillations are performed in an optical fiber itself, a volume to a surface area of the laser oscillating rod becomes maximal so that laser oscillation may be performed stably. Accordingly, lowering of laser oscillation efficiency due to loss of heat can be minimized.
Meanwhile, a laser apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as ‘a medical laser apparatus’) according to the related art applied to the medical fields projects a laser beam of a fine wavelength of 400 nm to 900 nm, and the projected laser beam penetrates deeply into the skin so that skin makeup can be improved by expediting circulation of blood in the skin.
Since the medical laser apparatus should secure low electric power and thermoelectric stability, energy conversion efficiency of an optical fiber laser is unstable when a laser oscillating optical fiber is utilized, and the utilization of the optical fiber laser is restrictive due to photo-darking caused by electronic excitements, which requires an additional apparatus.
Further, the medical laser apparatus according to the related art recently has been modified in various forms to be conveniently used, and an example thereof includes a makeup mask by which a laser beam may be projected.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a makeup mask according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the makeup mask includes a fabric mask body 10 including optical fibers 11 connected to a plurality of light sources 20.
The makeup mask according to the related art covers a portion of a face. Meanwhile, the light sources 20 used here employ medical laser modules, and use large diameter optical fibers of 200 μm to 800 μm instead of communication optical fibers (generally, around 125 μm) (aim to secure outputs).
Thus, it is impossible to minutely project laser beams to the skin through large diameter optical fibers.
Further, the optical fibers 11 applied to the makeup mask according to the related art employ a separate switching means to control optical outputs of ends of the optical fibers 11.
However, when the medical laser modules (including the makeup mask according to the related art) according to the related art separately include a switching means, they occupy a relatively large portion of the volume of the apparatus, making it difficult to miniaturize the apparatus and increasing manufacturing costs.